Agree to Differ

[

] 135

The university supports the idea that more dialogues and

seminars pertaining to racial and religious relations should

be organized to foster harmony and prevent conflicts among

the country’s multiracial and multireligious society. Dialogues

involving community and religious leaders could create better

understanding of communal and religious issues and hence,

help to strengthen peaceful relations.

The university management upholds the stance that reli-

gious principles should be studied, carefully understood

and must be geared towards fostering harmony and mutual

respect through dialogue programmes. The President of the

university is confident that social media could play a role in

fostering understanding, peace and love between the differ-

ent races and in enhancing the principle of mutual respect

and understanding acceptance among people of different

religions and cultures.

The participants in the Interfaith Harmony programmes

come from 14 different countries including Bangladesh,

Myanmar, Indonesia, Turkey, Brunei Darussalam and the

United Arab Emirates. Disseminating principles and tools

of intercultural dialogue through quality education and the

media can help to reach out to the younger generation.

The World Interfaith Harmony Week is not a call to water

down one’s faith, but rather a call to respect inevitable natural

differences and personal beliefs. It is a clarion call for unity

believing that all human beings came from the same source,

and they can only live in harmony if they build their relation-

ship upon a solid foundation of dialogues. The international

seminar endeavours to promote the ongoing discussions on

tolerance and mutual acceptance among different religions

and communities and to open an avenue for positive engage-

ments on interfaith harmony and tolerance.

The primary objective of the series of seminars organized

during the Interfaith Harmony Week is to spread the message

of harmony and tolerance among the followers of religions,

faith and beliefs. This year seminar papers and discussions

concentrated on the following major areas of media and inter-

national relations:

• mutual understanding and reciprocal knowledge of

cultural, ethnic, linguistic and religious diversity as well

as supporting reconciliation efforts

• building a framework for commonly shared values which

fosters social cohesion

• disseminating principles and tools of intercultural

dialogue through quality education and the media

• fostering dialogue for sustainable development and its

ethical, social and cultural dimensions.

The seminar aims to promote the common basis of ‘Love of

God and love of the neighbour’ or ‘Love of the good and love

of the neighbour’ to strengthen the message of harmony and

tolerance, which is necessary to reduce anxiety, stress and

personal pressure among individuals, society and countries.

IIUM has taken part in local and global initiatives with

strategic partners such as the Ma’din Academy, JPNIN and

the Jawatankuasa Mempromosikan Persefahaman dan

Keharmonian Antara Penganut Agama (JKMPKA) in the area

of interreligious and interfaith concord to strengthen the

belief that the maximum output of human endeavour comes

through cooperation among the different nations. This is in

line with Qur’an 5:2 which provides: “Help ye one another

unto good deeds and righteousness and help not one another

unto sins and transgression.”

IIUM developed the Certificate in Interfaith Mediation

programme to be considered by JKMPKA for use in train-

ing religious leaders in Malaysia in order to promote the

understanding and peaceful coexistence of people of various

religions in the country.

Although people from multireligious backgrounds can

live in harmony, conflicts are unavoidable, for it is a legiti-

mate part of human social and political life. In many places

conflict may turn violent, inflicting grave costs in terms of

The mosque at IIUM: the university strives to promote understanding of Islam

and harmony within multiracial and religious communities

The Honourable Rector, Dr Zaleha Kamaruddin, delivering her speech at the

4th International Seminar on Interfaith Harmony and Tolerance 2015, Malaysia

Image: IIUM

gree

iffer